NHTSA Complaint #11439947 — 2014 TOYOTA RAV4

My husband made sure he took the car into the dealership before his current deployment & records showed nothing was wrong. About 2 months ago I noticed the vehicle would jump from 2 to 3 RPM. He changed the spark plugs and battery. The drive improved but soon started revving again. In September, I called the dealership & described the issue & noted that there was no check engine light or any light indicating anything was wrong. The maintenance personnel said to drop it off for further diagnosis. On October 15, I took the vehicle in for a diagnostic it came back with another clean report and was advised to bring it back in if the problem persist. The next morning, I noticed the vehicle was still behaving the same way. I called the dealership and told them I will bring the vehicle back in. I was insistent on finding out what the problem was & showed them a video of what I was describing the vehicle was doing. The dealership said they would keep it overnight to try & figure out what was wrong. The following evening October 21, I got a call stating that my transmission fluid was black with metal shavings and it was supposed to be red. The transmission fluid could no longer be changed at this point but instead the entire transmission needed to be replaced for $8,947.95! Keep in mind that the average cost of changing the transmission fluid is $250. If my vehicle was properly maintained when took it to Toyota dealerships since 2014 for ALL the recommended maintenance, we would not be having this issue. We TRUSTED the dealerships to tell us what maintenance was needed. The transmission fluid should have been replaced at 60,000 miles & it was not. Now we have to replace the entire transmission. Toyota needs to take ownership of their mistake; not properly maintaining our vehicle. It is no fault of our own that it was never indicated to us that the transmission fluid needed to be replaced. His family with no vehicle, exactly what he was trying to avoid before he deployed.